E Tactical _ Ability esFirst published 1981 Reprinted with corrections 1984 Yakov Neishtadt ISBN 0 7134 40139 (limp) Set by Hope Services, Abingdon and printed in Great Britain by Billing & Sons Ltd, London, and Worcester for the Publishers: Chess Digest, Inc., 11836 Judd Court, Suite 338-E Dallas, Texas, 75243 A BATSFORD/CHESS DIGEST, INC., CHESS BOOK Adviser: R. G. Wade, 0.B.E. Technical Editor: P. A. LamfordContents Introduction Decoying Attraction Destroying the Guard Clearing a Square or a Line The Pin Line Closing Blocking Combining Tactical Devices Promoting a Pawn A Miraculous Escape A Tactics Exam Do You Know the Classics? Solutions to Exercises 12 28 38 41 49 55 59 62 78 84 93 125 136Introduction It is well known that the best way of practising is either to play an actual game or to take part in competitions. In other words, in order to play better, one has to play more, and, whenever possible, against strong players. However, this basic truth needs to be qualified to a certain extent. Every game is an exam of sorts, But it is an exam without any precise replies to questions that could be extremely important for achieving per- fection. Did you (and your opponent) proceed correctly in the situation that was constantly changing from move to move? What was the critical moment, i.e. where was the decisive blunder made and was it exploited as it deserved to be? ‘In order to do that you would have to analyze the game very carefully’, the reader might interrupt. ‘But not on your own’, we might add, ‘but with a chessplayer who is obviously more qualified than you are’. Your analysis, no matter how careful it may be, needs to be checked, since this analysis is limited by the extent to which you understand chess. Let us assume that you have found the place where, as it may appear to you, you lost your way, and you have brought the inaccuracies and errors to light, and you now know how you should have played. But have you really found the best moves? And how sharp is your tactical vision? Have you not missed a profitable combinational possibility in your analysis? Finally, how developed is your ‘feel for the position’, ie. how do you grasp the situation, how do you assess the positions that may arise after you have gone through the variations? In general, are you not building castles in the air and, at the same time, are you not sometimes missing decisive combinations, labouring under the conviction that there is nothing extraordinary in the position? But even if you have at your disposal the permanent opportunity of analyzing your games together with an experienced coach, it is doubtful whether you will achieve any real results if you only spend time on your own games. It is also essential to look at other peoples’ creations — both classical and modern: instructive games by masters, model combinations and original ones, typical plans of play. Let us add to this a command of the fundamentals of opening and endgame theory.8 Introduction We can find all this (or at least we should be able to find it) ina tradi- tional textbook on chess. By playing through the instructive games cited in the textbook, you memorize what you sce and try to act in a like manner in similar situations, It is difficult to judge on the question of how you will have assimilated other peoples’ experience, since there is no contact between the author of the book and the reader. After all, there is no exam to sit on the course you have attended. In general, every method described here has its pluses and its minuses. They, as it were, complement one another, But can one study the works of others in conditions that are close to those of an actual game? This is the aim of the method, currently gaining acceptance, of solving exercises. Test Your Tactical Ability is a compilation of such exercises, it is your teach-yourself book and your sparring-partner. By pondering ovet positions and suggesting solutions for Masters and Grandmasters (as well as rank and file chessplayers who have realized outstanding combinations), you will easily be able to check your own ability. The detailed answers to each exercise will enable you to establish how you got on with the job. By solving the exercises you will noticeably broaden your chess horizon and develop your combinational abilities. Experience comes from what one has seen, but even more so from what one has lived through. The tactical operations which you carry out yourself will imprint themselves on your memory much more reliably, than if you were to try and assimi- late the same material from a textbook, In all the positions cited the moment before the decisive turnabout of events has been highlighted. Human memory is emotional — we remember things best of all if they have a bright emotional hue to them. Thus the solutions to the positions, as a rule, are striking or, at the very least, unusual. The method of ‘sensation’ (A. Nimzowitsch’s term) is designed to contribute to the best possible assimilation of the material. The exercises, which are grouped by theme, are preceded by a short theoretical section, which includes an explanation and a few characteristic examples, Following this ‘introductory lecture’ come the exercises them- selves, Some have a short explanatory note, others come under the general heading ‘How would you have played?’. In every one of these sections the examples are arranged in order of increasing difficulty. In the largest section (which includes 150 exercises out of a total of 378) the theme of the imminent tactical operation is no longer indicated. This has been done on purpose, in order to complicate the exercise and to deprive the reader (who will have managed to acquire a certain amount of experience) of a substantial hint.Introduction 9 54 classic positions have been selected for a special section. Looking at the diagrams, you can cither check your chess erudition or . . . follow the example of the classical players and find the strongest continuation. The names of the participants in each contest will be found in the solutions. If there is no reference to an actual game it means that an instructive position has been cited. And, finally, a small piece of advice on the subject of method, or rather, a recommendation. Since we have set ourselves the task of getting the learning process close to the conditions of an actual game, try, once you have set up the position, to do the exercise without moving the pieces, and only start going through the analysis when you are convinced that you cannot solve the example mentally. The reader will probably want to point out that by no means all the famous Grandmasters figure by virtue of their combination in Test Your Tactical Ability. But this book is not a collection of combinations by out- standing players, but a set of exercises, and thus the examples have not been selected on the ‘principle of representation’, but with a purely instructive aim in mind. Alongside fragments from the games of illustrious Masters you will come across examples from simultaneous displays and totally insignificant competitions. It may happen that this book, which is aimed at a wide cross-section of readers, will be opened by a chessplayer of some experience -- a Master or even a Grandmaster. Well, we can also guarantee him not less than a hundred unfamiliar positions! And now, before getting down to work, let us go through the definition of a combination. A combination is a forced variation with a sacr ifice, pursuing a definite aim and leading to a material transformation of the position. A combina- tion is a materia! leap, a burst that clears the situation on the board by revealing the true values and exposing the false ones. May we also draw attention to the element of surprise, and in connec- tion with that, the aesthetic effect of a combination. Sacrifices affect our imagination, especially when they result in the triumph of a small force. There are, of course, combinations that are very well known. They are similar in design and as time has passed, each one of them has become a sort of tactical device. But the game of chess is so complex and protean that the possibilities for new, original combinations are truly endless. In addition to which, every chess position is concrete i.e, it contains its own features, which are proper to it and it only, and so experience, although it does teach, does not fully insure anybody against making mistakes. Top- rank chess-players the world over have had the opportunity to become convinced of this.10 Introduction So let us go over the essential features of a combination: 1. Coordinated action of two or more pieces. 2. Forced aspect of the variation. 3, Presence of a sacrifice. 4. Positive aim of the operation. The last condition relates to the classification of combinations. The aim of any combination is the achievement of an objective advan- tage; otherwise it is no longer a combination. Such an aim can be mating the enemy king, the gain of material, a profitable change in the position (e.g. intensifying the attack, improving the interaction of the forces, getting to a promising ending etc.), and in an unfavourable situation it can mean saving the game (e.g. by perpetual check, stalemate, equalizing on material or reaching a theoretically drawn endgame), as well as weakening the opponent’s attack or relieving your own defences (say, by reducing your opponent's positional pressure), and creating obstacles to your oppo- nent’s realization of an advantage. Combinations can be classified by the successes scored by the side realizing a combination, as well as by other features. For instance, by the material which is sacrificed (combinations with a queen sacrifice, rook sac., material sac., minor piece sac., pawn sac.), by the pieces that take part in the combination and play a major role in it, by the target of the combination and, finally (this is the most important subdivision) — by the ideas behind the combination. We now come to two categories which have not only a theoretical significance, but also a profoundly practical one. Before looking for a combination, the chessplayer establishes what grounds there are for a search in a given position, After all, a search is not conducted on an empty spot — it is dictated by the peculiarities of the situation, The motif of a combination — that is the peculiarity of a situation that points which way the search will go, For instance, the crowded position of the enemy king or conversely, the distance between a piece and its guard, an insufficient or illusory guard on the eighth (or on the first) rank, a weakness on the squares directly adjacent to the king, bishops occupying open diagonals on which there might be an important target (very often the king), individual pieces left unguarded, upsetting the interaction of various pieces, exposing the position of the queen, limiting its mobility, the disposition of the king or the queen on one line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal), the disposition of the major pieces on one diagonal, the possi- bility of exploiting the so-called geometric properties of the pieces (e.g. a double blow with the queen, a knight fork, an open attack etc.). The motif is nothing other than the primary bearing. So, first of all, we have the direction of the search (the motif), and thenIntroduction 11 the search itself, the discovery of combinational ideas and the calculation of concrete variations, The theme of a combination (or the idea behind it) can be defined by the reply to the following question: by what means, by what method will the combination be realized? For example, by decoying the queen away from guarding a key square (the theme, or the idea of decoying), by attracting a rook to a fork (the theme, or the idea of attraction) etc. The themes of the tactical operations have been dealt with fairly thoroughly, and we will come back to them in greater detail.1 Decoying That is the name of the tactical device that forces the opponent’s piece or pawn to leave its position and give access to an important square (or line). The motives behind the opera- tion (or its final aims) can vary; let us begin with a simple illustrative example from the endgame. a 7 a White to Move Black’s bishop must guard the c7 square, otherwise White’s pawn will promote to a queen. But, if he con- tinues 1 &c3, White deflects his opponent’s bishop away from the key diagonal and after 1... Bxc3 27 wins. Barcza Simagin Black to Move The straightforward move 1... e2 is foliowed by 2 @c3+, and White has sound control over the promotion square of the d-pawn. This means that the knight must be drawn away, in order to prevent it from reaching c3. This is achieved by the move 1... Qa3+! After 2 4)xa3 @e2 the pawn promotes toa queen, In the examples we have seen, the aim of the decoying sacrifice was to allow the passed pawn to reach the promotion square. Now let us examine some instances where the decoying is followed by aknight fork. The final aim of such an operation is usually the gain of material advantage. Alexander Cordingley England, 1947 aan Pata a * a “he White to Move 1 Qxb7 Yxb7 2 wd5! Black resigned, in view of the fact that he loses a piece: 2... &xd5 3 2xe7+ and 4 &xd5; 2... Bc6 3 wxc6! Panczik Schurade Zakopane, 1978 White to Move Decoying 13 The game was brought to a close by the astounding ‘long’ move 1 Wa8!! The capture of the queen is followed by 2 &xe7+ and 3 @xc8, winning a piece. And if 1... 8b7, then 2 &xe7+ Bxe7 3 &xb8 with the same result. Let us have a look at a motif that occurs very frequently — the exploitation of a hidden weakness on the eighth (or the first) rank. If the king has no ‘flight square’ (or if it cannot be used, i.e. the square is under attack), the act of decoying the pieces guarding the eighth (or the first) rank can bring about a catastrophe. Fister Balogh Hungary, 1964 Black to Move There followed 1... (mating the rook!) 0-1 wb2!14 Decoying Lepek Koonen Correspondence, 1962 White to Move 1 Bc2! Wxd4 2 Bc4 wb6 (one can easily see that Black’s replies are forced — otherwise the eighth rank will be left unprotected) 3 c8+ Hd8 4 &b5! Decoying the queen ends the game. Madsen Napolitano Correspondence, 1953 Ba ma aU 7 BER iy Y Black to Move Here Black wins by 1... Be1+ 2 Exel wd4+. It can sometimes happen that a piece is overworked with too many responsibilities ~ it has to defend two, or even several, important potential targets (other pieces, squares, lines). The act of decoying the overworked piece leaves one of the targets defenceless. Kveinis Avshalumov Ordzhonikidze, 1978 White to Move After the king has been deflected - 1 Yc4+ Sb8, a tactical blow exploiting the overworked queen wins the game — 2 Hxd7. Here are some more examples of typical decoying sacrifices. Ragozin Panov 12th U.S.S.R. Championship, 1940 Black to PlayWith his last move White parried the check with the rook. What should Black do? The move 1... ¥c6, drawing the queen away from defending the rook at d1, and at the same time attacking the rook at b5, forced White to resign. Hafer Felmy Hamburg, 1975 White to Move 1 @hS! (drawing the knight away from defending h7) 1... @xh5, If 2 wh7+ SF8 3 wh8, then the king shelters on e7, and because of this, that square must be made inaccessible. After another decoy- ing blow 24d5, Black resigned. Decoying 15 Formanek Warsaw, 1927 Griguricz ft u White to Move 1 He8! A double decoy (1... Yxe8 2 exf6+ and 3 &xg7 mate and 1... 8xe8 2 &xg7 mate). 1-0. Polugayevsky Szilagyi Moscow, 1960 White to Move16 Decoying 1 Bgl+ @h6 2 Af8+!! (the act of decoying the rook away from d8 allows White to realize a winning manoeuvre ) 2... Axf8 3 Bd3!. and mate at h3 is unavoidable. Korensky Tseshkovsky Omsk, 1973 226 my te ane White to Move If the queen were not at c5, White would mate, and thus 1 &d4 Axc4 (1... Yxd4 2 Bf8+ Bxf8 3 &xf8 mate) 2 &xc5 Bxf7 3 Bel. 1-0 Paoli Smystov Venice, 1950 a Black to Move ane 1... Bxc2! 2 &xc2 af3+ 3 SF2. If 3 @h1, then 3... &g3 with mate on h2 or (if the knight moves) on gl. . . Wg3+ 4 Ge? is followed by 4 Ded4+. 0-1. Abrahams Winter London, 1946 White to Move 1 BhS+! @xhS 2 Wxf5+ Sh6 3 Wxe4! Both these decoying sac- rifices are temporary. After 3... Bxe4 4 d7 Black cannot be pre- vented from promoting his pawn. As a result of the combination, White wins a piece and is left with a winning material advantage.Levitina Gaprindashvili U.S.S.R. Womens’ Championship, Tbilisi, 1979 White to Move Black has just moved her queen to f3 and threatens mate. In reply to the only possible defence 1 ¥c6, Gaprindashvili, in her preliminary calculations, planned 1... ¢4 and in reply to 2%xe4, the decoying sacrifice 2... Bfe8. But once the queen move to c6 had been made, the former women’s World Champion discovered that White, in her turn, could attack the queen by means of 3 @d4, and rejected her original plan (instead of 1... e4, she played 1... wf5 and soon suffered defeat). iain @ e1et 4 a iz Decoying 17 However another decoying sac- rifice — 3 . . . &g2+! led to mate in two moves. 1, Zaitsev Spassky 28th Soviet Championship, Moscow 1969 z= BT White to Move Black’s king is in danger, and an important part in the attack could be played by the bishop, which Black has sought to remove from the long diagonal with his last move (b5-b4). However, it does not have to retreat: 1 hg hg 2 Bd6! threatens Hd6xg6+, and so the reply 2... $h7 is forced.18 Decaying The result of the struggle is decided by the ‘quiet’ move 3 Wc4!, decoying the queen, The queen cannot be captured because of mate (4 Bh1+). If it retreats along the h1-a8 diagonal, there follows 4 Wh4+, and if 3... Be7, then 2 xed and 5 Bhi+. At last, the bishop at c3 will have ful- filled its role after all! EXERCISES DIAGRAM 1 White to Move 1) White went on to take the d- pawn, leaving the bishop en prise. Can it be captured? DIAGRAM 2 White to Move 2) In reply to 7 &c3+ Black covered the check by means of 1... &d4. Assess this move. DIAGRAM 3 y QR an eee 3) With the move 1... Bc8 Black offered to exchange the rooks. How would you have replied? DIAGRAM 4 Co aewes pig White to Move4) To whose advantage is the con- tinuation 1 Bxg7 Bxg7 2 &xf6? DIAGRAM S an nt L ak a Y Ue Black to Move 5) Black is a piece down, but the powerful position of the queen and the bishop, as well as the rook at e8, prompts the search for a com- bination. Find it. DIAGRAM 6 @ ane Black to Move 6) Black did not want to surrender the d-file (1... Bxd5 2 Bxd5 cb Decoying 19 3 &d3 with a positional advantage for White) and captured the pawn immediately — 1... cb. What is the reply? DIAGRAM 7 Ee. Oe ae Black to Move 7) After Black had taken the g- pawn with the queen and estab- lished material equality, White, playing the queen to f3, offered an exchange. He was convinced that Black could not decline this offer of simplification (including after the check on b4), Is this the case? DIAGRAM 8 White to Move20 Decoying 8) White continued 1 Be1, offering to exchange the rook and the bishop. How would you have replied? DIAGRAM 9 White to Move 9) White went on to play 1 &d4, having decided that a direct attack on the king-side presented no danger: 1... &h3 2 Af3 Bc6 3 @hi, and the bishop at h3 is forced to withdraw. Find where the mis- calculation was made. DIAGRAM 10 Black to z tay 10) Having played the queen to c3, White now threatens mate, At the same time the bishop is en prise. Is it absolutely essential for the bishop to return to f8? DIAGRAM 11 White to Move 11) What is the reply to the ex- change of queens offered by Black? DIAGRAM 12 White to Move 12) White went on to play 1 4f4. Calculate the consequences of cap- turing the e4 pawn.DIAGRAM 13 Decoying 21 DIAGRAM 15 White to Move 13) As a result of sacrificing the exchange for a pawn, White has destroyed the enemy king’s pawn guard. How should the attack be followed through? DIAGRAM 14 Black to Move Lb, 14) Can the bishop at c2 be cap- tured? White to Move 15) The diagram shows a position taken from the game Poutiainen- Karner (Tallinn, 1977). White con- tinued 14g5 threatening Qe6 which was followed by 1 . . . &b7 (posi- tioning himself for an ‘ambush’). Before parrying the discovered check, White decided to give check himself — 2 wd4+? and... after 2 .. . Of6+ lost his queen. What would you have played instead of 1 g5? DIAGRAM 16 White to Move22 Decoying 16) Black has an extra rook and the DIAGRAM 19 d6 pawn is doomed. However, do not rush to resign, but think what J 7D 7 could be done, DIAGRAM 17 White to Move _ 19) Black’s last move was 4f6-¢4. How would you reply to it? White to Move 17) Black has offered to exchange the bishops. How should White con- duct the attack? DIAGRAM 20 DIAGRAM 18 White to Move White to Move 18) Can White capture the pawn at 20) Black has offered to exchange c3? rooks. Your solution?DIAGRAM 21 Y = Black to Move 21) White’s king is on the move, and you have to decide whether to chase it by means of 1... Hg8+ and 2... &h2+, or just to be con- tent with capturing the rook at f1 and, after exchanging the queens, playing a rook endgame. DIAGRAM 22 o_o aw 17 White to Move 22) With his last move Black put the knight en prise, but White went on to play — 1 g5, continuing the Decoying 23 offensive. What did he reply to 1... @xh5? DIAGRAM 23 © wey, Z Black to Move 23) With his last move (Hd1-d6) White put the bishop en prise. How would you have replied? DIAGRAM 24 White to Move 24) White rejected the move 1 Ba3 with the threat of mate on a8 (first question: why?) and went on to play 1 8h3, which was followed by 1... &g5. Second question: how do you rate the move 2 Ha3, now that Black’s queen has been divided?24 = Decoying HOW WOULD YOU HAVE PLAYED? DIAGRAM 25 DIAGRAM 28 Black to Move White to Move DIAGRAM 26 DIAGRAM 29 B — White to Move Black to Move DIAGRAM 27 DIAGRAM 30 - to Mow White to MoveDecoying 25 DIAGRAM 31 DIAGRAM 34 White to Move Black to Move DIAGRAM 32 DIAGRAM 35 ie Black to Move White to Move DIAGRAM 33 DIAGRAM 36 Black to Move Black to Move26 Decoying DIAGRAM 37 DIAGRAM 40 . 8 Bsa Ee ae to Move White to Move DIAGRAM 38 DIAGRAM 41 White to Move Black to Move DIAGRAM 39 DIAGRAM 42 White to Move Black to MoveDIAGRAM 43, on eae am. a ) ia UN White to Move DIAGRAM 44 Black to Move DIAGRAM 45 (2 arate. «2 @ Oe ae @ Pee a White to Move Decoying 27 DIAGRAM 46 ay re na me ONT oe a ones ee ee White to Move DIAGRAM 47 5 mite a fm nate a ows Black to Move DIAGRAM 48 White to Move2 Attraction With the aid of this tactical device a piece (or a pawn) is, as it were, pulled onto a particular square. Just as with the decoy, the motives behind the operation can vary. First — an example of attraction opening up possibilities for a profitable discovered check. Stanciu Drimer Bucharest, 1969 Black to Move With a move that was looking for trouble 1... @c6? Black put the pinned bishop en prise. How- ever, after 2 Hf8+! he had to capi- tulate. The attraction of the king onto 8 allows the pinned bishop to deal a deadly blow (2... @xf8 3 &xg7+). A discovered check follow- ing an attractive sacrifice leads to a decisive material advantage. In the next example a discovered check made it possible to weave a mating net. Krilov Tarasov Leningrad, 1961 a Ae Us White to Move By sacrificing the queen and then a rook, White attracts the enemy king on h8 into a fateful discovered check: 1 Wxg8+! @xg8 2 Bh8+! @xh8 3 Af7 mate. A double check which forces the opponent to move the king is par- ticularly effective.Taksis Eslingen, 1968 White to Move 1 wh7+! A simplified variation on the famous Ed, Lasker-Thomas game (London, 1911, No. 352). 1 @xh7 2 Af6++ (for a check like that you don’t begrudge the queen!) 2... @h8 3 Qg6 mate. Popov Riumin Moscow, 1925 Black to Move Attraction 29 . . Bxf3! 2 &xf3. And in this example attracting the king into a double check decides the outcome of the game: 2. . . wxf3+! 3 @xf3 Axd4++ 4 Sg4 Ac8+ 5 Sh4 OF3 mate. Suni Alivirta Helsinki, 1957 Black to Move The straightforward 1... &h7 gives White the possibility of counterplay after 2 Hf3. Two attractive sacrifices — of the rook and the queen — lead to a win: 1 . .. Abit! 2 Sxh] wh7+ 3 &gl Wh2+ 4 &xh2 OF3++ 5 Sh1 (or 5 @h3). Now that control of g1 has been removed from the king -- 5 .. Hh8 mate.30 Attraction Kihne Malmgren Correspondence, 1966 White to Move 1 Wxg6t! Sxg6 (1... Gh8 2 Oe5; 1... &g8 2 OFS) 2 BeS++ Sf6 3 Af2+ ke7 (3... @xe5 4 BFS mate) 4 &c6+! &xc6. And still the king cannot escape. White does not capture the queen, but concludes the combination just the way he started it — with a discovered double check: 5 &g5 mate, Katalimov Mukhin. Aktiubinsk, 1976 White to Move In the centre there is a crowd of pieces and both queens are en prise. There followed 1 &xe4 (by remov- ing the threat to the queen, White simultaneously opens up the d-file) 1... fe 2 &d8+!! (attracting the king into a double discovered check) 2... &xd8 3 \c6++ Se8 4 d8 mate. A modification of ‘Réti’s theme’ (Réti-Tartakower, Vienna, 1910): 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 &c3 de 4 Axe4 Af6 5 Wd3 e5 6 de Wa5+ 7 Ad2 wxe5 8 0-0-0! xed? 9 wd8+! Sxd8 10 Qg5++, and mate next move. Instead of the bishop, the knight took part in the mating operation. From P. Stamma’s book, 1737 White to Move The temptation, of course, is to give the discovered check, but the rook at e2 is en prise. The winning move is a queen sacrifice attracting the king into adouble check: 1 Ye7+!! @xe7 2 Ag6t++ Sd8. Following this the knights give mate — 3 Of7+ Sc8 4 ®e7 mate. Another section — (temporary) sacrifices with attraction into a fork. Raitsa Kasper Brandenburg, 1973 er ant im a” ee “a =i ae tl DSR Sawa a Pee Black to Move 1... d4+!! The attraction into the fork occurs irrespective of whether the pawn is captured or whether the king withdraws: 2 wWxd4 OF5+; 2 Sxd4 Ac6t+; 2 SF4 Dg6t; 2 Se4 we2+ 3 SF4 Dg6+ or 3 @xd4 Bc6+. 0-1. Petrosian Simagin Moscow, 1956 White to Move Attraction 31 1 xf7 gives Black the possi- bility of perpetual check on d1, f3, hS. What leads to a win is 1 &a8+ Sg7 (1... @e7 2 WbT+ etc.) 2 Axe5+!! (attraction, as a result of which White, with the help of a fork, gets an easily won endgame; 2 &h8+ would not have reached the objective, as Black would have replied 2... @g6) 2... wxe5 3 Wh8+ Sxh8 4 Axf7+ and 5 Axe5. Piotrowski Tannenbaum ws ee Lo 7 White to Move By sacrificing themselves, the queen and the bishop open up the way for the promotion of the g- pawn. The first attracting sacrifice is 1 Wh8+!! and in reply to1... Sxh8 — 2 g7+ Sg8. The second sacrifice is 3 &h7+! @xh7 4 g8 = Ww mate.32 Attraction Bouaziz Interzonal, Riga, 1979 Black to Move White is up on material, the ‘c’ pawn is asquare away from promo- tion. All the approaches to the king, it seems, are safely guarded. There followed, however, 1. . . Bxh3 2 @xh3. White assessed his opponent’s move as a sacrifice made in despera- tion, otherwise he would have declined the gift and played 2 Wf1. After 2... . Bg3+ 3 @f2 Bxf3+ 4 Sxf3 wxfl+ 5 Sed Black, at the most, has perpetual check. But why not take the rook after all? 2... Whit 3 wh2 wxf3t+ 4 &xh4 Re7+ 5 g5. Faced with this situation, White abandoned his calculations. How- ever, the unforeseen attracting sacrifice 5 . . . &xg5+ ended the game. With two extra rooks, White is mated after 6 @xg5 f6+. EXERCISES DIAGRAM 49 wrt ak y 49) The move Ba6-g6 destroys White’s initiative on the ®-side. It is vital to create a strong threat. DIAGRAM 50 Black to Move 50) Black went on to play 1... &xd3, How would you have replied?DIAGRAM 51 y u no er Yom lp 2 7 White to Move 51) On his last move White checked with the queen on d8, and Black withdrew the king to g7. Can the c7-pawn be captured now? DIAGRAM 52 = fen £L a une Black to Move 52) White has played for this posi- tion, counting on replying to 1... - &xd1 with 2 Axf6. @xb5 or 1. . What advice could you give Black? Attraction 33 DIAGRAM 53 ame gases White to Move 53) On his last move Black put his queen en prise. What would you have done if you were playing White? DIAGRAM 54 t L White to Move 54) White is exerting a lot of pres- sure on the ®-side. After 1 Bf1 Black withdrew the threatened knight 1. . . 86d7. Continue the attack.34 Attraction DIAGRAM 55 White to Move 55) White has sacrificed a piece and managed to achieve a threatening attacking position. How would you have concluded the offensive? DIAGRAM 56 m7 mie wm : Black to Move 56) White has left the bishop at ¢3 en prise. Can it be captured? DIAGRAM 57 yo at a a “wRE iy oe 3 a in ‘es | & Yan J me "i TS White to Move 57) Black has a huge material ad- vantage; his king, however, is in an unfortunate position, and this gives White a chance to save himself. DIAGRAM 58 ae oy Wy a a a a Black to Move 58) On his last move White played 8h7-a7 threatening to capture on a4 with check. He was expecting his opponent, who is a bishop down, to resign the game. Instead of this Black ...Attraction 35 DIAGRAM 59. DIAGRAM 60 m LTS White to Move Black to Move 59) White’s king is in a desperate 60) The h-pawn is a step away from position. What can be done? promotion. Black went on to play 1... 8c3+. Where should the king move? HOW WOULD YOU HAVE PLAYED? DIAGRAM 61 DIAGRAM 62 un @ Y a a Yj. ae White to Move Black to Move36 Attraction DIAGRAM 63 White to Move DIAGRAM 64 eee mee een Black to Move DIAGRAM 65 White to Move DIAGRAM 66 e Ey Am til a 8 wall Black to Move DIAGRAM 67 White to Move DIAGRAM 68 ae ar White to MoveAttraction 37 DIAGRAM 69 DIAGRAM 71 ‘mt lip Be THA Y ie Be nw @ a — ‘ ee White to Move White to Move DIAGRAM 70 DIAGRAM 72 White to Move Black to Move3 Destroying the Guard As a tactical device the decoy is used with the aim of removing a guard. When the guard is destroyed this removal is accomplished directly — by the straightforward capture of the piece (or the pawn) fulfilling an important function. From the aesthetic point of view, combinations involving the theme of destroying the guard are less striking, because they inevitably include a capture. Petrosian Ivkov USSR- Yugoslavia Match, Belgrade, 1979 a a @ H@Ee Bt ae # £e White to Move There followed 1 Bxd4! and Black resigned. Whatever he cap- tures the rook with, mate follows in two moves. Kubitek Lechtynsky Prague, 1968 White to Move White’s superiority is obvious, but he needs to finish off the attack. Destroying the defender of h6 wins — 1 xg7+ Oxg7 2 Dh6 mate!Destroying the Guard 39 Kveinis A. Mikenas Nezhmetdinov Romanov Vilnius, 1978 RSFSR Chapionship, 1950 White to Move White to Move By destroying c7, White mates: 1 Wg5 g6 2 He7+ g7 (if 2... 1 &xc7+! &xc7 2 Bb5 mate. @h8, then 3 Bxd7 Wxd7 4 wf6 mate) 3 8xd7! (destroying the defender of (6) 3... &xd7 (3... Wxd7 does not change anything either) 4 &f6+ @h6 5 BFS! (threat- ening 6 Hh5 mate) 5... wa7+ 6 Sf1. 1-0. EXERCISES DIAGRAM 73 however, White is the first to under- take decisive measures, J aac DIAGRAM 74 Wy . @ White to Move 73) The threat is 1... git 2 Black to Move Sh3 whit 3 wh2 Bd3+ 4 g3 WF3; 74) Can Black play 1... £3240 Destroying the Guard DIAGRAM 75 DIAGRAM 77 Black to Move 75) Exploit’ White’s @-side weak- ness. DIAGRAM 76 Black to Move 76) How would you launch the attack? Black to Move 71) On his last move White played ®f2-4. How would you have replied? DIAGRAM 78 ws Black to Move 78) White is a piece down, and his last hope is the passed a-pawn. Hav- ing decided that there are no threats to the king, on his last move he played ¥a5-b6, clearing the way for the pawn and at the same time denying the queen access to b7. How would you retaliate to this?4 Clearing a Square or a Line It can happen that one’s own piece Pearsall White (or pawn) prevents the realization Correspondence, 1953 of a profitable manocuvre or a Z tactical blow. In such instances one should strive to vacate the square occupied by this piece {or the line which it is blocking) sometimes without baulking at sacrifices. Ravinsky Simagin Moscow, 1947 Z White to Move 1 Se7+! Freeing eS for the knight, following which he wins the queen with the aid of a ‘fork’: 1... Axe7 2 Be5+. Rossolimo Zuckerman Paris, 1937 Black to Move The knight is preventing the bishop from dealing a destructive blow, and so he is sacrificed - 1... @g4t! Whatever White captures the knight with, there follows 2... Me5+, with the loss of the queen. White to Move42 Clearing a Square or a Line Black’s queen has no escape squares. The only thing left is to find a way of attacking it. 1 &xh7+! (the aim or the sacri- fice being to get rid of the defenders of g6) 1... @xh7 (1... @h8 2 f7 mate) 2 Og6. 1-0. Those combinations dealt with the idea of clearing a square. Now let us have a look at the idea of clearing a line. E. Viadimirov Haritonov Alma-Ata, 1977 « s ft Vn WS Wd White to Move 1 WG+! Dxf6 2 AcS+! 1-0 (2 ...&xc5 3 gft @f8 4 Bh8 mate). Note that mate is also possible with another sequence of moves: 1 Mc5+ AxcS (1... AxcS 2 Wot and 3 Bh8 mate; 1... @d8 2 Bxd7+ &xd7 3 &xf7+ and 4 Gh7) 2 Bf6+ etc. Levenfish Freymann Leningrad, 1925 ye White to Move The sacrifice on h6 is the obvious one: 1 Qxh6 gh 2 Bxh6+ og7, but what next? Well, 3 2b7!! Attacking the queen, the bishop clears the diagonal with a gain of tempo. The threat is mate on g6 and the queen has to be given up: 3 ... @xh6 4 &xa6. Black has a lost game. Karpov Csom Bad-Lauterberg, 1977 White to MoveWith the rook en prise and h7 defended, Black felt safe and was about to go a piece up. There fol- lowed, however, 1 45! and he had to resign the game. The knight has given the queen access to h2. If 1... @xd7 then 2 Wh2+! Sg8 3 we3+ G7 4 we7 mate. If 1. . .ef, then also 2 wh2+ Sg8 3 wg3+ Sh8 4 wg7 mate. If the deadly check on h6 is hindered by 1... &b8, this gives a different mate by freeing the seventh rank for the queen: 2 Bh7+! @xh7 3 wg7 mate. Rossolimo NN White to Move Clearing a Square ora Line 43 1 Bxf5! (giving the queen access to h6) 1... ef 2&xh6t!! xh6 (if 2... gh, then 3 Of6+ and 4 Bg3 mate) 3 Bh1+ @g6. But where’s the mate? After all, White is already a queen down... 4 @f4! (clearing the diagonal for the bishop; threatens 5 &h5+ and 6 Axf7 mate) 4... %e6 5 Bh8! The final touch. After 5 &hS+ Sh7 6 Axf7+ comes 6... wh6+. There is now no defence to mate on hs. 1-0.44 Clearing a Square or a Line EXERCISES DIAGRAM 79 DIAGRAM 81 Black to Move Black to Move 79) Having sacrificed a pawn, Black 81) Black creates irrefutable threats, has massed all his pieces on the @- side (the only piece not involved in the attack is the bishop at g7). Con- tinue the offensive. DIAGRAM 80 DIAGRAM 82 White to Move White to Move 80) How does the rook take part in 82) The f-pawn is en prise. Is there the attack? any need to spend time defending it?DIAGRAM 83 White to Move 83) Black’s pieces are defending one another, and it may seem that their position is unassailable. How- ever, this is not the case. DIAGRAM 84 8 ti White to Move 84) The bishop is defended by the rook at h8. What about drawing it out and delivering mate? In other words, give your appraisal of the move 1 &xh6. Clearing a Square ora Line 45 DIAGRAM 85 oie 1g 0 Ly POT j a WY Black to Move 85) How can the threatening posi- tion of the bishop at c6 be ex- ploited? DIAGRAM 86 ie Gi a 2 g Age White to Move 86) Finish off the attack.46 Clearing a Square or a Line DIAGRAM 87 DIAGRAM 89 White to Move 87) Black’s reply to 1 &hS was 1 . «86. What next? DIAGRAM 88 White to Move 89) On his last move Black did not capture the rook (in view of @f2- d4+) and instead played g4-g3. What should White play? DIAGRAM 90 tA An s ee 7 lie White to Move 88) White’s rook has made it to the seventh rank; the knight and the queen have the king in their sights. How can the interaction of the attacking pieces be coordinated? 7 a “ae White to Move 90) How should the attack yo?DIAGRAM 91 Lida Ry oe White to Move 91) White’s rook is trapped and there are no weaknesses in Black’s castled position. However, what is striking is the distance between the @-side and the pieces defending it DIAGRAM 92 White to Move 92) Black’s king is insufficiently covered, but how can he be dis- turbed? Clearing a Square ora Line 47 DIAGRAM 93 pages Black to Move 93) The last move was 8d1-d3. What will now follow 1... ed? DIAGRAM 94 White to Move 94) In order to attack the castled position, White has moved the rook to h3. To protect himself from Wd1-h5, Black has played g7-g6, thereby weakening the long diagonal and h6. Your solution?48 Clearing a Square or a Line DIAGRAM 95 Analyze in whose favour the game should go. DIAGRAM 96 Black to Move 95) For the sake of an attack White has sacrificed a piece. His last move was &f1-f4 with the idea of trans- White to Move ferring the queen to h6. How would you have replied? 96) By his last move d5-d4 Black attacked the White knight. What would you advise White to do?5 The Pin The pin is nearly the most wide- spread tactical device. What happens in a pin is that a piece (or a pawn) en prise from the queen, rook, or bishop is totally or partially deprived of movement, as it is shielding another more impor- tant or undefended piece positioned on the same line (diagonal, vertical, horizontal). If the pinned piece is shielding the king, its mobility is limited to the utmost — the only movement possible is along the line of attack. The following example illustrates pins which bring about instant disaster. On the left-hand side of the dia- gram White wins by pinning’ the rook — 1 @d4, and then by attack- ing it once more (1... @b6 2 b4) On the right-hand side after 1 &e3 Black loses the knight (its removal leaves the rook en prise). But of course not every pin results in material gain. Thus if a knight is pinned by a bishop, the number of attacks on the pinned piece and the number of defences can balance out and then it is only a question of limiting the mobility of the pinned piece. Pire Stoltz 4th Olympiad, Prague, 1931 ae Hine a ot yy Black to Move50 The Pin With 1. ..d4 Black won a piece. The knight is pinned and if 2 &xd4 then 2... . &a1+; neither can Black play 3 d1 because of 3... &xd4. Polugayevsky Hort Interzonal, Manila, 1976 Black to Move There followed 1... Bel+ 2 @h2 Bcl! and White was a rook down. When a pinned piece is not shield- ing the king, but another piece, it is essential to take into consideration the possibility of a sacrifice. One profitable tactical possibility (and also a necessity, if it is a question of choosing the lesser of two evils) is the ‘highest purpose’, for the sake of which the pinned piece leaves its square, abandoning the more valu- able piece to the mercy of fate. a Kv a 8 ioe Black to Move Leaving the queen en prise Black plays 1... &xd3! and follows 2 wxd5 with 2... &e2 mate. Parr Whitecroft Holland, 1968 White to move In order to attack h6 the pinned rook leaves the queen en prise — 1 BhS! Wxd7 2 2g5+ Sh8. And now another pin is used — 3 Bxh6 mate.The Pin 51 Finally, some examples of pin- Dahl Schulz ning in two directions — the so-called Berlin, 1956 double pin. Hendel Sushkevitch s pi Be aa oe White to Move UW x Black to Move “fe 1 e6! Qxe6 2 Ad4 f6. After the 1... Bxg3+! 2 Bxg3 Bg8!! The _ preliminary forced moves the double double pin (along the g-file and the diagonal pin of the bishop at e6 third rank) forces resignation — wins — 3 &g4,3...®f7 is followed White loses the queen, by 4 Bfe1. 1-0. EXERCISES DIAGRAM 97 DIAGRAM 98 Black to Move White to Move 98) With his last move @g7-g6 97) Is the rook check on c2 dan- Black created the threat of mate in gerous for White? two moves. How can it be averted?52 The Pin DIAGRAM 99 DIAGRAM 1017 SZ 7 4! R Wil @ _2 & Y Black to Move White to Move 99) White’s last move was e4-e5. 101) White has an extra pawn and Can it be refuted? his major pieces are extremely well positioned. In reply to 1 ¥f6 Black played 1... &g4+. Where should the king withdraw to — f2 or f1? DIAGRAM 100 DIAGRAM 102 yy 4 a 8 @iet2s @ @ Y White to Move 100) Assess the move 1 4)xe4 with Black to Move the idea of temporarily sacrificing a piece. 102) Can Black win?The Pin 53 DIAGRAM 103 DIAGRAM 105 i Ai tf vanes oon a (RB ave a White to Move Black to Move 105) Black went on to play 1... dc, leaving the knight at e4 en prise. Can it be captured? 103) Black has no objections to an exchange on c5. What should White do? DIAGRAM 104 DIAGRAM 106 White to Move Black to Move 106) White went on to play 1 8f8. 104) How can the pin on the Appraise this move. diagonal be exploited?54 The Pin DIAGRAM 107 DIAGRAM 108 ve Vi, "@ eo ma atats LF White to Move White to Move 107) Black has just played &g7-h6 108) On his last move Black, who is and is about to win material. What two pawns up, offered an exchange. steps can be taken? How should the game end?6 Line Closing With this tactical device the connec- tions between the opponent's pieces positioned on one line can be broken, or access to a key square can be denied. Wanovié Popovié Yugoslavia, 1973 a White to Move 1 h6+ @h8 2 Re6! By breaking the connection between the queen and the bishop, White wins. Black cannot take on e6 because of mate in three moves: 2... &xe6 3 WIS+ Wes 4 WhEt and 5 exg7 mate. Meanwhile the bishop at e4 is en prise, If 2... d5, then 3 te5+, and if the bishop moves, a different check wins — 3 Wd4+. 1-0. Urzica Honfi Bucharest, 1975 White to Move 1 &e4+! (by means of this White isolates the queen and descends on the enemy king with his superior forces) 1... fe 2 ¥d5+ Sc8 3 Wc6 mate.